The resulting trial took 110 court days to be heard and involved nine barristers, more than 500,000 documents and 70 witnesses and costs thought to exceed £70m.

In January Mr Justice Ramsey upheld just one of the five claims against EDS in a 468-page judgment revealing that Joe Galloway, who was head of EDS’s CRM Solutions when the contract was negotiated, had misled the claimant.

Under cross examination Galloway was forced to defend the origins of his MBA, which, said the opposing counsel, could be bought online.

Brick Court’s Mark Howard QC, who led for BSkyB, caused uproar in the court when he produced an identical MBA he purchased online for his miniature Schnauzer dog Lulu.

The judge said Galloway “had quite evidently obtained a fake degree from the Concordia College website”, despite the fact he maintained otherwise under cross examination.

EDS has agreed to an interim payment of £270m, but in total will pay out £318m.